The problem of safely removing people from burning or damaged buildings has long been of concern, and the requirement for the provision of fire escapes and many other safety features attests to the continuing need for such rescue devices. However, as the height of the buildings has increased, the difficulty of rescue has increased even faster. While the prevention of fire and its spread is important, and the actual extinction of the fire, once it has started, is also important, the actual physical removal of persons from such a building is probably the most important phase.
Historically, non-flammable fire escapes have been helpful in the removal of people from a burning building, but such fire escapes are of practical use only when the buildings are limited to heights of three or four floors. The problems of trying to evacuate a modern forty-story building, for example, by means of non-flammable fire escapes are monumental.
It has been suggested that cages be provided that can be hoisted to the top of the building from the ground so that people can get to them, and the cages are then let down to the ground so that the people may escape from the building. Such systems either require some form of pulley to be installed at the time the building is built, or the hoisting of a pulley, for example, on the end of a long ladder, so that the operation of a cage or car may be controlled from the ground.
The use of such cages is quite practical within the limits imposed, since it offers a means for quickly removing a large number of people. However, modern construction requires other provisions.
The present invention makes use of a container or gondola that is supported by a large helicopter, and is provided with control means that aid in maintaining the desired position and the stability of the gondola when it is taking on passengers, or when it is being maneuvered or maintained in a predetermined position with respect to the buildings. The stability of the gondola is particularly important when it is recalled that the downdraft from a helicopter can cause extreme turbulence that could move the gondola away from the desired position and into an undesired position. The present invention makes use of the downdraft from the helicopter to provide control of the gondola so that it can be more easily and accurately positioned, and its stability will be increased.